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WILKESBORO—Home improvement giant Lowe's Companies Inc. has announced plans to add 175 new jobs at its Customer Support Center in Wilkesboro.

Lowe's said the announcement was another sign of the company's plans to keep a strong presence in Wilkes County where the company was founded nearly 70 years ago. Growth has been rapid at the center, which began with 300 employees in 2009. And with the 175 jobs addition, would reach 1,100 employees by February.

"As we offer more and more to our customers and more connectivity to our customers we need good customer service agents to interact with those customers," said Lowe's vice-president Don Easterling.

Easterling said the jobs demand good typing skills and excellent people skills.

"When the customer calls in we try to get them to that expert the first time and it can be anything. It can be general Q & A about products. It can be something about repair on a product that they purchased from Lowe's. It can be about a sale that they're trying to close on Lowes.com," said Easterling.

Easterling said agents deal with more than telephone calls.

"It's anyway the customer wants to reach out to us. So, that's click to chat. That's via telephone, e-mail, letter, social media," said Easterling.

As in most of North Carolina, unemployment in Wilkes County is high. So, the new jobs are a welcome development.

"[Having] 175 [jobs to come] in this economy is certainly a needed boost to Wilkes. Our unemployment rate is around 11 percent right now,” said Wilkesboro town manager Ken Noland.

Easterling said adding the 175 jobs would further underscore the company's commitment to Wilkes County.

"We've been here for years. We're not going anywhere and we're just looking for some more talent right out of Wilkes County and continue to build our customer service presence here," said Easterling.

Lowes will hold a job fair Tuesday, July 24, at the John A. Walker Community Center at 1328 S. Collegiate Drive. The job fair will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.